Yes, it is Winter, even though a recent Saturday in
Atlanta registered at nearly 70 degrees. Depending on how you feel about colder
weather and snow, we are either extremely fortunate, or possibly missing out on
one of Nature’s wonders! Either way, did you know that:
¨ It can be as warm as 40 degrees on the ground and still snow
¨ Every snowflake has 6 sides
¨ The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -128 degrees in
Antarctica in 1983. (Now that’s cold!)
¨ The biggest snowflake on record fell in Montana in 1887 measuring 8” x 15”.
¨ The record for a snowfall in the US happened in Silver Lake, CO in 1921. In
a 24 hour period, six feet four inches of snow fell.
¨ The most snowfall in one season was 1,140 inches (95 feet) in Mount Baker,
WA in 1998-1999.
¨ Hailstones are built like an onion. The layers count the number of times it
traveled to the top of the storm before falling to the ground.
¨ The biggest hailstone recorded fell in South Dakota on July 23, 2010. It
was the size of a softball and weighed almost 2 pounds.
¨ Due to the lack of sunlight a dog’s nose can fade to brown in the winter.
¨ The largest snowman recorded was a 122 foot snow-woman built in
Bethel, Maine in 2008.
¨ People who are afraid of snow have chionophobia.
¨ A snow storm becomes a blizzard when winds reach 35 miles per hour and
visibility is less than a quarter of a mile.
¨ According to the National Sporting Goods Association, U.S. consumers spent
$309 million on snowboarding equipment
in 2008. That's more than hockey and football equipment combined ($249
million).